Valve tester



June 17, 1930. FLEMING 1,764,616

VALVE TESTER I Filed Nov. 24, 1926 Patented June 17 fomrsoT-srarzs "PATENr OFFICE 3mm: BARTON rnnmmmor BAL'rIMoRE cotrnrr, mnnmnnlnssmnon 'ro rnn annex & nncxnn MANUFACTURING centrall on 'rowson, mvtnnn, A con- IOBIA'IION OF IIABYLAND VALVE TESTER Application filed. November 24; 1923. serial no. 150,427.

The practice of grinding poppet valves, though it may be otherwise applied, most extensively employed in the reseating or grinding of the valves of internal combus- Q tion motors. This must be done frequently and forms a large item in the maintenance of motor vehicles and an important feature of the work of the majority of motor repair shops. When the grinding job is satisfactory the valve will hold air or gas pressure, but all grinding operations are subject to error which isnot easily detected. i

To grind the valves in the common type of motor of the present day the cylinder head 16 is removed. This is a quite laborious operation. In accordance with the previous practice'the motor has been reassembled immediately after grinding, such testing as is performed being accomplished by noting the 20 compression in each cylinder as the motor is turned over on the crank, or the quality of the work may be merely judged from the operation of the motor. Not infrequently it has been necessary to remove the cylinder head a second time before the work is delivered, to correct and improve the compression-in one or more cylinders, which correction is accomplished by regrindin'g or in some instances by cleaning the contacting surfaces. Often the motor is delivered with an imperfect grinding job, the failure of the motor to operate properly being attributed to other causes.

The operation of taking down andreas-' sembling the motorconstitutes a very large item in the expense of valve grinding or reseating and the necessity for duplicating this operation causes a .very considerable loss to the shop, or increased expense to the owner of the motor. I

Theobject of the present invention is to provide means for testing the compression or it of each valve prior to reassembling. Varioustesting devices have been previously constructed, but none of them have been sufii- The present invention relates to improved details whereby the operation of. testing valves in this .way is .rendered practical. In the form ofthe invention illustrated this is ac- 5 complished by applying air pressure of. a

ciently successful to come into general use.

known intensity to the valve and seat in the closed position of the valve and determining and comparing the periods of time during which the different-valves hold the uniform pressure thus applied. When loss of pressure is lmmediate and air pressure is held for a short time only, the surfaces require further I attention. Sometimes the defect can be remedied merely by wiping and removing particles of dirt lodged on one of the contacting surfaces. In other instances grinding .has been insufficient as irregularities, as pitting and the like, have not been removed from one or the other surfaces and in some cases one or the other of the ground surfaces has been inaccurately formed and regrinding is consequently necessary.

In the preferred form the apparatus which is the subject of the invention comprises a cup or chamber having an opening sufficiently large to encircle the valve outside the seat, and provided with soft packing or other contacting means around the opening so that the cup can be easily pressed into air tight contact with the portions of the motor casting surrounding the valve seat, so that in operative position the cup encloses the valve and seat. The apparatus also includes means for setting up any desired degree of air or other fluid pressure within the chamber and means for ascertaining or reading the pressure within the chamber, the said elements being connected together to form an integral unit adapted to effect an'instantaneous test by a single operation v A difliculty incident to the prior art devices, aside from their slow operation and the elaborate nature of the test involved'in their use, is that the check valves employed are so constructed that they will not operate at the pressures conveniently available and controllable for this purpose. This diificulty, among others, has been overcome bythe provision of the present apparatus.

In the accompanying drawings I have 95 shown an apparatus embodying the invention in the preferred form and in a modified form.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation the a' 166:

seat, a valve in closed position being also 1 shown.

Figu

used in this connection.

Referrin to the drawingsby numerals, each ofwhich is used to indicate the same or similar parts in the different figures, the valve testing apparatus as shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a cup or chamber 1 shown in the form of a cylindrical casting open at one end at 2 to take over and enclose the valve seat, and having packing 3 surround ing the opening. Figure 1 also shows the lower section of the cup at 50 made detachable from the upper section of the cup 51, said sections being connected by threads 52 or in any suitable manner to provide for the use of a series of interchangeable sections 50 of different sizes so that the testing ap aratus may be used to test the contacts 0 valves of different sizes and also to test piston contacts.

The disclosure also includes means for generating fluid pressure in the form of a bulb pump 4 having an inlet or suction at 5 controlled by check valve 6. The pump is connected by tube? with the container or chamber 1 by way of fitting 8 containing a check valve 9, which prevents the escape of fluid from the container through the pump or bulb on what may be termed the suction stroke, i. e., when the bulb is permitted to expand. The non-return valve 9 consists of a disk 10 of soft material which cooperates with a flat seat 13 disposed toward the cup. The valve or disk 10 is supported when off the seat by spider 18. The valve described has great advantages in the way of ease of operation, maln'ng it possible to use the pres sure generating means described, i. e., the bulb, which is the most convenient for this pur ose as it can be operated by one hand.

The apparatus also includes a pressure gauge 11 suitably connected to the chamber or container 1 by means of a fitting shown in the form of a nipple 12.

.The operation will be easily understood from the preamble and description. The container or chamber. 1 is placed with its opening 2 in contact with the cylinder casting and surrounding and enclosing the valve opening or seat 14 and valve 15. The member 1 has been described as preferably provided with packing 3 surrounding the opening. This packing may to advantage be seated in a groove 19 in the mouth or lips .16 of the opening, the packing 3, which is ordinarily in'the form of a ringvbeing inserted in the groove projecting therefrom in the form ofa rib surroundin The container, or more particu arly the openmgtherein is held in contact with the cylinre 2 is a detailed view on an enlar ed scale illustrating a special type of check va ve "is opened, which renders the opening. 1

'desired pressure may der in any suitable manner. This may to advantage be performed manually, the left hand of the operator being placed on the closed end of the container at 17 while the bulb is operated with the other hand to generate the desired pressure. When the apparatus is of the ordinary dimensions three or four contractions of the bulb, which may be accomplished by gripping the same with the hand and releasing, are suflicient to gen: erate some ten pounds pressure in the con; tainer provided the engine valve makes rea-' sonably perfect contact. In accordance with the practice, the test is completed by maintainin the contact of the chamber opening with t e casting and noting the time elapsedbefore the air escapes. The test is, of course, largely comparative as to the period required for the air to escape, making it ossible to secure substantial uniformity o compression in the'various cylinders of the motor. A very slight defect or variation from practically perfect contact, as the presence of for cleaning or further grinding the surfaces is, by the use of the apparatus, laced instantaneously and conspicuously efore the inspectora's he tests each valve.

An important feature of the apparatus, as

shown,'is the convenient generation of pressure inside the cup and regulation of the pressure in the cup, whereby it is made possible to hold the cup in testing, or what may be termed operative position, with one hand and apply the air pressure with the other-hand. In connection with the bulb operated apparatus, the form of check valve illustrated in, Figure 2 is of particular importance, the valve being so constructed, i. e., having a large area on the disk 10 which is subject to the pressure of the pump by which the valve the valve capable of being operated by the low pressure generated in the bulb.

The applicant is aware of various patents showing somewhat similar apparatus. In some of these prior patents tire valves are shown. These are not suitable for the pur poses of the bulb pump as the pressure generated is not sufficient to open them. Certain of the prior patents include bulbs. One of these is a vacuum bulb and another contains no check valve, the pressure applied being merely that which results from contracting the bulb and thus reducing the volume of the confined'air overthe valve without introducing any additional air. It is not possible by such apparatus to obtain sufiicient pressure to accomplish an efi'ective test.

With the applicants bulb apparatus any be obtained and the operation may be repeated provided the presmam sure is lost, as many times as is desired without removing the cup from operative position.

I have thus described specifically and in detail a preferred embodiment of my invention in order that the. nature' and operation of the same ma be clearly understood, however, the speci c terms herein are used descriptively rather than in a limitinnsense, the scope of the invention being de ed in the claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Means for testing valve or piston contact in internal combustion engines, comprising a cup constructed with an opening adapted to be placed over the contact to be tested in sealed relation thereto, and to be held in place solely by one hand, said cup being formed in two sections, a pump connected to one section and operable'solely by one hand,

constructed to build up the pressure in said v cup to the desired degree by a succession of a strokes, the other section being detachable from the first named section so as to be interchangeable with sections having openings of difi'erent size.

2. Means for testing valve or piston contact in internal combustion engines, comprising acup composed of two separable sections, one havin means for connecting said cup to a source o fluid under pressure, and the other having an opening adapted to be placed over the contact to be tested, in sealed relation thereto, said last named section being selectively interchangeable with sections having openings of difierent size.

Signed by me at Towson, Maryland, this 20 day of November, 1926.

JARED BARTON FLEMING. 

